Inflatable evacuation slide and ship rescue equipment comprising said slide

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an inflatable marine evacuation slide for evacuating people from a ship to at least one inflatable liferaft (or survival raft), as well as rescue equipment for the passengers and/or crew members of a ship, comprising at least one inflatable liferaft, stored folded in the deflated state, together with associated inflation means, in a container around which is wrapped, folded in the deflated state, an inflatable marine evacuation slide according to the invention.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is a National Phase entry of PCT Application No. PCT/FR2010/051166, filed Jun. 10, 2010, which claims priority from French Application Number 09 53938, filed Jun. 12, 2009, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an inflatable marine evacuation slide for evacuating people from a ship to at least one inflatable liferaft (or survival raft), as well as rescue equipment for the passengers and/or crew members of a ship, comprising at least one inflatable liferaft, stored folded in the deflated state, together with associated inflation means, in a container around which is wrapped, folded in the deflated state, an inflatable marine evacuation slide according to the invention.

Inflatable marine evacuation slides of the general type described above are known, as well as rescue equipment comprising such an inflatable evacuation slide and a container containing at least one inflatable liferaft and associated inflation means, also as mentioned above.

In particular, patent document WO 95/14605 discloses marine evacuation equipment comprising an inflatable evacuation slide connected to an inflatable liferaft by releasable slide/liferaft interface coupling devices, which are deformable coupling devices allowing relative movement of the slide and the liferaft, the entire evacuation system being easily deployed and inflated in a short timescale of less than 2 minutes, even though it comprises a high-capacity liferat capable of accommodating, for example, in the region of a approximately one hundred passengers.

In the marine evacuation system disclosed in WO 95/14605, the inflatable evacuation slide for evacuating people from a ship to an inflatable liferaft comprises:

-   -   three multiple longitudinal beams, each comprising at least two         individually inflatable longitudinal tubes, connected side by         side and adjacent over their length, including two lateral lower         beams and a central upper beam, spaced apart transversally over         their length and substantially parallel to each other in the         inflated state;     -   a flexible chute, intended to support people during their         evacuation via the slide, said chute linking the two lateral         lower beams and extending continuously between them and over the         entire length of the slide, from its entry end, equipped with         means for coupling to the ship, to its exit end, equipped with         deformable, releasable slide/liferaft interface coupling         devices;     -   lower braces, comprising inflatable lower tubes connected to the         two lateral lower beams and extending under the evacuation         chute; and     -   lateral braces, comprising inflatable lateral tubes connected to         the central upper beam and to the lateral lower beams, so as to         stiffen the structure of the slide in the inflated state, by         giving it a cross-section, substantially perpendicular to the         longitudinal beams, that has a triangular shape.

In the example inflatable evacuation slide described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 to 6 of WO 95/14605, the slide, which in the deployed, unfolded and inflated state extends between a storage cradle for the ramp-container unit housing a folded, deflated liferaft fixed to the ship, and said inflated liferaft, contains a bearing structure comprising nine cylindrical longitudinal tubes with a circular cross-section, each individually inflatable (independently of the others), connected together in three groups of three, thus forming three triple longitudinal beams, for each of which the three corresponding tubes are stacked so that the cross-section of the stack also has a substantially triangular shape, the three longitudinal tubes being substantially tangent two by two along generating lines and connected together along these generating lines by bonding or by high-frequency welding. When the slide is in the inflated state, the groups of longitudinal tubes are kept spaced apart and braced by inflated tubes of lateral and lower braces called diagonals. The lateral braces are constituted by inflatable lateral tubes arranged side by side in pairs alternately inclined upstream and downstream, i.e. respectively towards the entry and exit ends of the slide, relative to a plane perpendicular to the inflated longitudinal tubes.

In patent document WO 2009/026631, by the same Applicant as WO 95/14605 and also relating to an inflatable marine evacuation slide having a generally triangular cross-section, a state of the art according to WO 95/14605 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and described with reference to these figures as being an inflatable marine evacuation slide on which the lateral brace assemblies of double inclined inflatable tubes, used for reinforcing the lateral sides of the slide, are not connected to each other, and as a result do not prevent movements of the slide causing it to bend and sag under the effect of its own weight, even in the absence of the additional load of any evacuated person, which constitutes a significant drawback, as the risk of deformation of the slide by twisting or buckling under the bending and/or twisting loads to which it is subjected is thereby increased, making the slide unsuitable for the safe use for which it was intended.

In order to overcome the drawbacks of the embodiments according to WO 95/14605, WO2009/026631 proposes an inflatable evacuation slide having a generally triangular cross-section, comprising a base and two lateral faces, each lateral face of which is constituted by a series of self-locking components, arranged side by side, which lock together so that the slide is rectilinear when inflated in the use configuration and remains so when loaded with at least one evacuated person, starting from a deployed and unloaded position in which the slide is prestressed so as to be slightly arcuate and upwardly convex. The self-locking components are inflatable components that are adjacent and interconnected in series, arranged in the inflated state in closed frames having a generally triangular shape, occupying alternately inverted positions, so that an apex of an inflated “triangular” frame is nested between two apices each belonging to respectively one of the two immediately adjacent “triangular” frames of the series. Each inflated frame is, more precisely, a hexagonal frame having three long sides alternating with three short sides, so that each short side connects the ends of two long sides of the corresponding “triangular” inflatable frame, and said inflated frames define a lateral face of the slide extending substantially in a single inclined plane, supported and fixed against the outside of the multiple upper longitudinal beam having three inflatable longitudinal tubes, and respectively one of the two single lower lateral beams, each constituted by a single inflatable longitudinal tube of the slide.

It is understood that producing an inflatable evacuation slide of this type, having a self-supporting structure the lateral faces of which are each constituted by a series of adjacent inflatable frames that lock together so that the slide is rectilinear when it is inflated and deployed in use configuration, and optionally loaded with people to be evacuated, has a complex structure and is difficult, and therefore particularly costly, to achieve.

An inflatable evacuation slide is also disclosed in patent document WO 95/15787 (see FIGS. 7 and 8 and the corresponding part of the description of the document), having a rectangular cross-section, with four double longitudinal beams, each constituted by two inflatable tubes connected side by side, and braced by inflatable transverse tubes constituting lower braces and upper braces, as well as, as in WO 95/14605, lateral braces, constituted by inflatable tubes connecting the lower longitudinal beams to the upper longitudinal beams and alternately inclined upstream and downstream, in a zigzag. A chute extends between the two lower double longitudinal beams, above the transverse tubes of the lower braces.

In this embodiment, inflatable members (the longitudinal beams, and, optionally, the lateral, lower and upper braces) are constituted by an inflatable tube with a tubular chamber delimited between a cylindrical outer wall and a cylindrical inner wall, which surround the inflatable cylindrical central chamber, in order to tension the tube, the stiffness of which is increased by a sheet of a semi-rigid flexible material extending in said annular chamber.

Also in this embodiment, it is understood that adequate stiffness of the slide depends to a very great extent on the properties of the semi-rigid flexible material arranged in sheets in the annular chambers of the inflatable tubes. The inflatable evacuation slide therefore also has a complex structure and is difficult, and therefore very costly, to produce.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem addressed by the invention is to propose an inflatable evacuation slide having a cross-section of a generally triangular shape, of the general type disclosed in WO 95/14605, providing performance at least as good as the known inflatable evacuation slides in terms of safety and speed of evacuation, i.e. the safety and speed of transfer of people from a ship to at least one inflatable liferaft or survival raft, by improving the rigidity or stiffness of the slide in the inflated state, and therefore its resistance to deformation under the effect of bending-twisting and/or compressive-tensile loads due to wave movements, swell, windage, as well as unsynchronized pitch and/or roll movements of the ship and the liferaft, and relative displacements thereof, by improving the structure of the inflatable evacuation slide of the above-mentioned known general type.

Another purpose of the invention is to improve the structure of the slides of the above-mentioned general type so as to make the slide according to the invention easier and cheaper to produce on an industrial scale, by at least partially modularizing the structure of said slide, so as, in particular, to facilitate the production of slides of different lengths, adapted to requirements, according to the type of ships equipped (passenger liners, in particular cruise liners, or ferries).

Another purpose of the invention is to improve the inflatable evacuation slide of the above-mentioned known general type, in order advantageously to render it compatible with the large carrying capacity of the high-capacity modern rescue or survival liferafts (of the order of 100 persons) and/or with an area forming a receiving platform, as disclosed in the Applicant's patent document FR 2 756 809, and/or also advantageously to render it compatible with the recent developments in evacuation equipment combining an inflatable evacuation slide with a container for several inflatable liferafts, as disclosed in the Applicant's patent document FR 2 912 111, in which evacuation equipment the deflated and folded slide is wrapped around the container while being connected on the one hand to the ship, on the other hand to the single liferaft in the container or to a first liferaft in the container, in order to allow for deployment and inflation sequentially or successively, following the launching and unrolling of the slide-container assembly, followed by inflation of the slide, then the opening of the container and sequential inflation of the liferaft(s) contained therein.

To this end, the invention proposes an inflatable evacuation slide, of the general type mentioned above and disclosed in WO 95/14605, characterized in that inflatable tubes of the lateral and lower braces are arranged in closed inflatable stiffening frames, polygonal in the inflated state, surrounding the three longitudinal beams to which said tubes of the stiffening frames are connected by connection means and inflation means via said longitudinal beams.

Thus, compressive/tensile and/or bending/twisting forces stressing any one of the three multiple longitudinal beams, or any one of the longitudinal tubes that such a beam comprises, are directed to at least one of said closed stiffening frames of the lateral and lower braces and are absorbed by the closed stiffening frame(s) concerned, in order to be distributed in this way onto the other longitudinal beam(s), i.e. the longitudinal tubes that they comprise, and thus transmitted to the other closed stiffening frames of the slide, so that by means of these closed stiffening frames, relatively concentrated forces stressing any one of the three longitudinal beams and/or any one of said closed stiffening frames are distributed and spread over the whole framework of the slide, as constituted by these beams and stiffening frames.

Advantageously, in order to facilitate the production of slides according to the invention of different lengths, in order to be suitable for applications on different types of ship, while retaining the general structure of the slide as defined above, the lateral and lower braces are arranged in inflatable stiffening modules, mechanically and pneumatically independent of each other, each passed through by the chute and the longitudinal beams, arranged side by side by their base, from one of the two ends of the slide to the other, said stiffening modules being connected to the three longitudinal beams by connection means and inflation means.

Thus, the closed stiffening frames formed by some of the inflatable tubes of the lateral and lower braces are incorporated into said stiffening modules, the number of which is chosen in order to produce a slide of a given length, as a function of the slide length and the unit length of said stiffening modules.

Advantageously moreover, in order to ensure that a fault in a stiffening module, such as a tear or puncture of the tubes, does not result in a loss of stiffness of the section of the slide in which the three longitudinal beams are braced by said damaged stiffening module, due to the deflation of the latter, each stiffening module is a compartmentalized assembly comprising several inflatable structures connected together, each inflatable structure delimiting a sealed compartment that is individually inflatable relative to the other compartments of said assembly.

In a preferred embodiment, each stiffening module comprises at least one inflatable structure which in the inflated state forms a hexagonal closed stiffening frame, comprising three long tubes, constituting two lateral braces and a lower brace, alternating with three short tubes, constituting two lower lateral connections of the lateral ends of the lower brace to the lower ends of the lateral braces, and a short upper brace, connecting the upper ends of the two lateral braces.

Thus, the hexagonal closed stiffening frames of all the stiffening modules of the slide together substantially delimit a prism having a hexagonal cross-section, i.e. therefore having 6 facets (3 large and 3 small), which not only has the advantage of surrounding the three multiple longitudinal beams as closely as possible, in particular when each of them is constituted by the stacking of three inflatable longitudinal tubes, with a cross-section of the stack having a substantially triangular shape, but also and above all providing the slide with a high degree of stiffness, due to the relatively large number of facets.

Moreover, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, each stiffening module in the inflated state has a general external shape of a hollow truncated pyramid with a square or rectangular base, the inclined edges of which are formed by lateral brace tubes delimiting two substantially triangular opposite lateral faces, an upstream face, facing the entry end of the slide, and a downstream face, facing the exit end of the slide, also opposite and substantially triangular, the upstream and downstream faces being passed through by the three longitudinal beams and the chute, and the base of each stiffening module is formed by an upstream lower brace tube and a downstream lower brace tube which, in the inflated state of the stiffening module, are braced by substantially X-shaped brace extending under the two lateral lower beams and the chute.

Thus, according to a particularly advantageous embodiment, combining the benefit of hexagonal closed stiffening frames and stiffening modules having the general external shape of a hollow truncated pyramid, each stiffening module of the slide according to the invention comprises, in the inflated state, an upstream outer hexagonal frame and a downstream outer hexagonal frame, each constituting an independent inflatable structure, which is doubled or overlapped along its two long lateral brace tubes and its three short tubes, and towards the inside of the module, by respectively two homologous long tubes and three short tubes of an upstream inner polygonal frame and a downstream inner polygonal frame, each constituting another independent inflatable structure, and each also comprising a lower tube in the shape of a flared U, connected via the ends of the arms of the U to the two lower lateral short tubes of the corresponding upstream or downstream inner polygonal frame, while each U-shaped lower tube is connected over the length of the base of the U to the base of the U of the homologous lower tube of the other inner polygonal frame, in order to form the substantially X-shaped brace of the base of said stiffening module.

In this particular example, each stiffening module therefore comprises four inflatable structures that are independent of each other, i.e. each is inflated independently of the others, for safety reasons, two of these four inflatable structures being hexagonal frames, while the other two are frames each of which respectively overlaps one of the hexagonal frames over a part of its perimeter, and at the base, forms part of the X-shaped brace that stays the bases of the two hexagonal frames.

Moreover, in order to provide the slide with the maximum of rigidity or stiffness where most needed, in order to limit its deformation by buckling when bent or by spinning when twisted, i.e. its entry or upper or upstream end, and its exit, or lower or downstream end, where the slide is respectively coupled to the ship and to the liferaft, said slide comprises advantageously, at each of its two ends, respectively one of two stiffening end modules that are stiffer in the inflated state than intermediate stiffening modules mounted between the two end stiffening modules.

To this end, according to a structure that is both simple and contributes to safety, each end stiffening module comprises a greater number of independent inflatable structures than each intermediate stiffening module.

Thus, if the intermediate modules are each produced according to the preferred example mentioned above, with four independent inflatable structures including two hexagonal frames, at least one end stiffening module can advantageously comprise at least two additional independent inflatable structures, each having an overall shape of an inverted V, and constituted by two lateral brace long tubes and a short upper brace short tube, connected together over their length respectively on the outside of the two lateral brace long tubes and the short upper brace short tube of respectively one of the upstream and downstream outer frames, so that said at least one end stiffening module comprises at least six independent inflatable structures.

This embodiment is particularly advantageous in that the end modules, like the intermediate modules, all comprise a common basic structure, that of an intermediate module, to which the two additional independent inflatable structures, each in the shape of an inverted V, are simply added in order to obtain an end module based on an intermediate module.

On such a slide, and still for the purposes of safety, in order to ensure that damage (tearing or puncturing) to one of the inflatable longitudinal tubes does not result in the loss of stiffness of a section of the slide, by deflating not only said longitudinal tube, but also homologous inflatable structures of several adjacent stiffening modules, said homologous inflatable structures of two adjacent modules of the slide are largely connected by individual inflation means to inflatable longitudinal tubes different from said longitudinal beams.

Ideally, it would be desirable for each inflatable structure of each of two, or even three, adjacent stiffening modules to be connected by individual inflation means to a respective inflatable longitudinal tube of the longitudinal beams. However, as the number of beams is limited to 3, and the number of inflatable longitudinal tubes per beam is also limited, for example, to 3, according to a satisfactory compromise between cost and efficiency, application of the above-mentioned ideal would result in producing stiffening modules having too few inflatable structures to ensure adequate safety, or, conversely, with stiffening modules having a sufficiently high number of independent inflatable structures for adequate safety, the result is that the total number of inflatable longitudinal tubes of the longitudinal beams is insufficient to allow each one to provide the inflation of a single inflatable structure of only one of two or three adjacent stiffening modules. For this reason, the feature according to which at least a majority of the homologous inflatable structures of two adjacent stiffening modules is connected by individual inflation means, specific to each inflatable structure, to different inflatable longitudinal tubes of the longitudinal beams, was adopted.

In order to facilitate the attachment of the slide to the liferaft, it is advantageous for the exit end of the slide to comprise a downstream end inflatable transverse tube, connected, using two areas spaced apart, against the downstream ends of inflatable longitudinal tubes of the two lateral lower beams, extended laterally downwards beyond the areas in which it is connected to the two lateral lower beams of the slide, by two curved inflatable end extensions, making it possible to extend the area of contact between the slide and said liferaft in order to ensure satisfactory contact between them.

Moreover, in the slide according to the invention, the connection means are advantageously detachable (or demountable) mechanical fixing devices capable of discontinuously connecting together the inflatable tubes of the longitudinal beams and the inflatable lateral and lower tubes.

The advantage of this discontinuous securing by detachable mechanical fixing devices is to facilitate not only the assembly of the slides by mounting the required number of stiffening modules on the longitudinal beams, and if necessary, removing them, but also producing the inflation means of the lateral and lower brace tubes, when some of the detachable devices for mechanically fixing the inflatable tubes of the beams to the lateral or lower inflatable brace tubes simultaneously constitute said inflation means of said brace tubes, as is allowed by known combined means for detachable mechanical fixing of two tubes to each other and inflation of one of the tubes by the other.

A further subject of the invention is rescue equipment, for the passengers and/or crew members of a ship, comprising in a known manner and as already described above, at least one inflatable liferaft, stored deflated and folded and with associated inflation means in a container, around which is wrapped, folded in the deflated state, an inflatable evacuation slide, an entry end of which is attached to the ship by coupling means and an exit end of which is attached to a liferaft in the container by deformable releasable slide/liferaft interface coupling devices, the rescue equipment according to the invention being such that said slide is a slide according to the invention and as set out above.

Moreover, in an embodiment that is advantageous since it uses releasable coupling devices of the known so-called “three-ring” type commonly used in another application, namely releasing a packed parachute by a parachutist wanting for example to free his main parachute in order to open his reserve parachute, the deformable releasable slide-liferaft interface coupling devices of the equipment according to the invention are two lateral assemblies, each mounted close to respectively one of the two lateral edges of the exit end of the slide, and each comprising two releasable coupling devices of the known so-called “three-ring” type with remote release, such as pneumatic or pyrotechnic, or manual and local, coupled to the slide by straps and to said liferaft by other straps attached to at least one ring of said three-ring devices.

Finally, the installation according to the invention can be such that the assembly constituted by the container, containing at least one liferaft and its inflation means, and the slide wrapped around the container, is housed in a storage cradle, fixed on the deck of the ship and having a known structure, already used for the storage and launching from said cradle, of such a slide-container assembly of the state of the art.

However, it is advantageous for the equipment according to the invention to be such that said slide-container assembly is housed in a storage and launching cradle for said assembly, the cradle being intended to be fixed on the deck of said ship, the cradle comprising a thrust plate, with a concave front face capable of pushing said assembly onto an overhanging sliding plate, capable of projecting relative to the deck of said ship, as well as a toggle plate, in order to ensure that the launching and deployment of the container-slide assembly can be performed with clearance relative to the edge of the ship's deck.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following non-limitative description of an example embodiment described with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a inflatable evacuation slide according to the invention, deployed and inflated between a ship, of the ferry type, and an inflatable liferaft, to which the exit or lower end of the slide is coupled by deformable releasable slide-liferaft interface coupling devices shown in detail VIII in FIG. 1,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the inflatable evacuation slide in FIG. 1, in the deployed and inflated state, shown without a chute in order to reveal the inflatable framework of the base structure of this slide,

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c are diagrammatic perspective representations respectively of the upper end stiffening module, an intermediate stiffening module and a slide-liferaft deformable releasable coupling device, which are the subject of details IIa, IIb, and IIc in FIG. 2,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the slide in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic lateral elevation view of the slide in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the slide in FIG. 2 along the inclined section plane V-V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the end stiffening module in FIG. 2 a, as constituted by two symmetrical elements or halves, before their assembly, each symmetrical half or element being constituted of three independent inflatable structures,

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic exploded perspective view of the end stiffening module in FIG. 2 a showing its 6 independent inflatable structures, of which the two situated at the ends are superfluous for producing an intermediate stiffening module according to FIG. 2 b;

FIG. 8 is a enlarged diagrammatic perspective view of detail VIII in FIG. 1 with partial cut-away of the upper peripheral tube of the liferaft; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are enlarged diagrammatic views of details IX and X in FIG. 8 respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically, in perspective, an inflatable evacuation slide 1 of the invention, in deployed and inflated configuration between a ship 2, such as a ferry, and an inflatable survival liferaft 3, also deployed and inflated, releasably attached to the lower or exit end of the slide 1 by deformable releasable slide/raft interface coupling devices, shown as a whole in detail VIII in FIG. 1, and described below in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10, while the other end of the slide 1, which is its upper or entry end, is connected to a storage and launching cradle 4, mounted on the ship 2, for storing the assembly constituted by the slide 1, folded in the deflated state, and the liferaft 3, also deflated and folded in a container (not shown), around which the slide 1 is wrapped in the storage configuration, before launching, on a deck of the ship 2.

As shown on a larger scale in FIGS. 2 to 5, the structure of the slide 1 comprises a framework containing three longitudinal triple beams, one of which is an upper beam 5, in a substantially central position above the other two, which are lateral lower beams 6, between which is fixed and stretched over the whole length of the slide 1, a flexible chute 7, intended to support the people evacuated by the slide 1, arranged as an escape chute.

For reasons of clarity, in order to reveal the framework structure, the chute 7 is shown diagrammatically only in FIG. 5.

Each of the three longitudinal triple beams 5 and 6 comprises three longitudinal tubes 8, each in the form of an elongated cylinder having a circular cross-section, individually inflatable (i.e. each inflatable independently of the others), stacked one above the other two so that they are tangential two by two over their length, and thus connected together adjacent and side by side, for example intermittently and not continuously over their length, by links such as flexible rings, collars or straps bonded or secured around the three tubes 8 of each beam, for example by an adhesive or by high-frequency welding, so that the cross-section of each beam 5 or 6 has substantially the shape of an equilateral triangle in the inflated state.

The framework of the slide 1 also comprises a plurality of stiffening modules 9 and 10, which are inflatable, but pneumatically and mechanically independent of each other, and arranged side by side by their base, from the entry end to the exit end of the slide 1, and each mechanically connected to longitudinal tubes 8 of the longitudinal beams 5 and 6 by connection means, and inflated from some of the longitudinal tubes 8 of said longitudinal beams 5 and 6 by inflation means, so that, in the inflated state of the slide 1, they can brace and stay the beams 5 and 6, keeping them spaced apart transversally to their length, and so that they extend substantially parallel to each other, in order to give the inflated slide 1 a cross-section (perpendicular to the beams 5 and 6) having substantially the shape of an isosceles or equilateral triangle.

These stiffening modules, the number of which determines the length of the slide 1, are of two different types, namely end stiffening modules 9, between which are mounted intermediate stiffening modules 10, for example 3 in number, between the two end stiffening modules 9, for an inflatable slide 1 having a total length of 14.5 m, in the particular example shown.

In this example, the two end stiffening modules 9 are identical to each other, and as shown in FIG. 2 a, corresponding to the upper end module 9 of detail IIa in FIG. 2, and the intermediate stiffening modules 10 are also identical to each other and as shown in FIG. 2 b, corresponding to the intermediate module 10 in the middle of the slide 1, according to detail IIb in FIG. 2.

Each of the two types of stiffening modules 9, 10 is a compartmentalized assembly constituted by 6 inflatable structures for the end stiffener 9 and four inflatable structures for the intermediate stiffener 10, connected together, each of which delimits respectively one of six or four sealed compartments, each of which is individually inflatable relative to the other compartments of the corresponding stiffening module 9 or 10.

The structure and production of an end stiffening module 9 according to FIG. 2 a are now described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, showing diagrammatically and in perspective, the two symmetrical halves constituting the end module 9, each being composed of three independent inflatable structures connected together, before assembly of the two halves in FIG. 6, and, in FIG. 7, the six independent inflatable structures of the same end module 9, in exploded perspective view, including the three that constitute one half 9 a of this module and the other three that constitute the other half 9 b of this module. As the two symmetrical halves 9 a and 9 b are identical to each other, and arranged face to face, it is sufficient to describe one of them. Each half 9 a or 9 b comprises an inflatable structure constituting, in the inflated state, a hexagonal closed stiffening frame 11, called the outer frame, as it is situated towards the outside of the stiffening module 9, and also of the stiffening module 10 for reasons that will become apparent hereinafter, when the stiffener 9 or 10 is assembled on the slide 1. This hexagonal closed stiffening frame 11 is constituted, alternately in succession, by three long tubes, 12, 13 and 14, identical to each other, and three short tubes 15, 16 and 17, also identical to each other, of which the two long tubes 12 and 13 constitute lateral braces upwardly inclined towards each other, and the long tube 14 constitutes a lower brace, while the short tube 15 constitutes a short upper brace, connecting the upper ends of the two lateral braces 12 and 13, and the short tube 16 constitutes a lower lateral connection of a lateral end of the lower brace 14 to the lower end of a corresponding lateral brace 13, while the other short tube 17 connects the other lateral end of the lower brace 14 to the lower end of the other lateral brace 12.

Each half 9 a or 9 b of the end stiffening module 9 also comprises a second independent inflatable structure, constituted by another polygonal closed stiffening structure, called inner, as it is arranged inside the module 9 relative to the outer hexagonal frame 11, and which comprises two long tubes 19 and 20, identical to each other and to the long tubes 12 and 13 of the hexagonal frame 11, so as to also constitute lateral braces, connected to each other at their upper ends by a short tube 21, forming a short upper brace identical to the upper brace 15 of the frame 11, while the lower ends of the two long lateral brace tubes 19 and 20 of the frame 18 are extended downwards, each by respectively one of two short tubes 22 and 23, identical to each other and to the short tubes 16 and 17 of the frame 11, in order to form connections to the ends of the arms of a lower tube 24, in the shape of a flared U, closing the frame 18 and facing the lower tube 24 in the shape of a flared U of the frame 18 of the other half 9 a or 9 b of the stiffening module 9, so that these two lower flared U-shaped tubes 24 can be connected to each other by bonding along their bases 25, arranged side by side, when the two halves 9 a and 9 b are assembled, and also by bonding of the two short upper braces 21 of the stiffening frames 18, one against another. Moreover, the short lower connection tubes 16 and 17 of each frame 11 are bonded against the two homologous short lower connection tubes 22 and 23 of the frame 18, and similarly the two long lateral brace tubes 12 and 13 of the frame 11 are bonded along the two long lateral brace tubes 19 and 20 of the frame 18.

Finally, each half 9 a and 9 b of the stiffening module 9 comprises, outside the polygonal frame 11, relative to the centre of the module 9, a third independent inflatable structure 26, in the shape of an inverted V, constituted by two long lateral brace tubes 27 and 28, identical to each other and to the long tubes 12 and 13 of the frame 11 and 19 and 20 of the frame 18, connected to each other by a short upper brace tube 29, identical to the short upper braces 15 and 21 of the frames 11 and 18. The inverted V-shaped structure 26 thus reinforces the assembly constituted by the frames 11 and 18 by overlapping, on the outside, the lateral braces 12 and 13 as well as the upper brace 15, against which are bonded over their entire length respectively the lateral braces 27 and 28 and the short upper brace 29 of the inverted V-shaped structure 26.

When the two halves 9 a and 9 b are connected to each other along the bases 25 of the two flared U-shaped lower tubes 24 and along the two upper braces 21, the two lower U-shaped tubes 24 constitute an X-shaped brace extending in the same plane as the two lower braces 14 of the two frames 11, so as to adequately brace the base of the stiffening module 9 thus constituted, which in the inflated state has the general outer shape of a hollow truncated pyramid, with a square or rectangular base, the inclined edges of which are formed by the lateral brace tubes 12, 13, 19, 20 and 27, 28 of the two closed stiffening frames 11 and 18 and of the inverted V-shaped structure 26.

Each intermediate stiffening module 10, as shown in FIG. 2 b, is only distinguished from the end stiffening module 9 in FIGS. 2 a, 6 and 7 by the removal of the two inverted V-shaped end inflatable structures 26. Therefore everything stated above for the production and structure of an end stiffening module 9 can be repeated for the production and structure of an intermediate stiffening module 10, in particular the production in two identical symmetrical halves connected together in a face to face arrangement, with the single difference that each half comprises only the two independent inflatable structures that constitute a hexagonal closed stiffening frame 11 and a polygonal closed stiffening frame 18, the X-shaped brace for staying the base of the intermediate stiffening module 10 being produced strictly in the same manner as for the stiffening module 9.

As a result, each intermediate stiffening module 10 also has, in the inflated state, the general outer shape of a hollow truncated pyramid with a square or rectangular base, the inclined edges of which are formed by the lateral brace tubes 12, 13 and 19, 20 of the two frames 11 and of the two frames 18 of such a module 10, thus comprising four independent inflatable structures, while each end stiffening module 9 comprises six of them.

On each stiffening module 9 or 10, the tubes 12, 13, 19 and 20, and optionally 27 and 28, delimit two substantially triangular opposite lateral faces, as well as two faces, also opposite and substantially triangular which are, when the modules 9 and 10 are mounted around the three longitudinal beams 5, 6 and the chute 7, and connected to the longitudinal tubes 8 of the longitudinal beams 5 and 6, one an upstream face, facing the entry end of the slide 1, and the other a downstream face, facing the exit end of this slide 1. Thus, the upstream and downstream faces are the faces of each of the stiffening modules 9 and 10 that are passed through by the three longitudinal beams 5 and 6 and the chute 7 of the slide 1. Moreover, the base of each stiffening module 9 or 10 is thus formed by a lower brace tube 14, situated upstream, and a lower brace tube 14 situated downstream, and these two tubes 14 are stayed, in the inflated state of the corresponding stiffening module 9 or 10, by the substantially X-shaped brace constituted by connecting the two flared U-shaped lower tubes 24 of said module, this X-shaped brace extending under the two lateral lower beams 6 and the chute 7.

It is thus understood that each of the two end stiffening modules 9 is stiffer, in the inflated state, than each of the intermediate stiffening modules 10, which are mounted simply arranged side by side by their base and with no mechanical connection either between them or with the two end modules 9, between the two latter, due to the fact that each of the end modules 9 comprises a larger number of independent inflatable structures than each intermediate stiffening module 10.

Although the stiffening modules 9 and 10 are not connected to each other, or connected to each other by inflation means, each of them is however connected to longitudinal tubes 8 of the three longitudinal beams 5 and 6 by connection means, as well as to some of the longitudinal tubes 8 of these beams 5 and 6 by inflation means.

More particularly, each of the four or six independent inflatable structures of each of the intermediate 10 or end 9 stiffening modules is connected by inflation means to respectively one of four or six of the nine longitudinal tubes 8 comprising the three longitudinal beams 5 and 6, and, moreover, with respect to any pair of two immediately adjacent stiffening modules 10 or 9 and 10, a majority of independent inflatable structures of one of these two modules is connected to inflatable tubes 8 of the longitudinal beams 5 and 6 that are different from those to which the homologous inflatable structures of the other one of these two modules are connected by inflation means. For example, with respect to the immediately adjacent upper end stiffening module 9 and intermediate stiffening module 10, the two independent inflatable structures constituted by the two upstream hexagonal closed stiffening frames 11 of these two modules are not inflated from the same tube longitudinal 8, in order to avoid the section of the slide 1 at these two modules 9 and 10 becoming too significantly deflated by damage to the same longitudinal tube 8 intended to supply with the inflation gas two independent but homologous inflatable structures of these two modules or also two inflatable structures of a single module 9 or 10.

Thus, the inflated slide 1 has excellent stiffness, due to the staying of the beams 5 and 6, provided by the lower braces, comprising the inflatable lower tubes 14 and 24, connected to the two lateral lower beams 6 and extending under the evacuation chute 7, and to the lateral braces, which include the inflatable lateral tubes 12, 13, 19, 20, 27 and 28, connected to the central upper beam 5 and to the lateral lower beams 6, with the additional support of the short upper braces formed by the short tubes 15, 21 and 29, and the connecting lower lateral braces formed by the short tubes 16, 17, 22 and 23, which, with the other tubes of the stiffening modules 9 and 10, and in particular of the closed stiffening frames 11 and 18 of these modules, substantially delimit a prism having a hexagonal cross-section, the six facets of which (three large and three small) contribute to providing significant stiffness to the slide 1 in the inflated state.

The bottom of the slide 1, at its exit end, comprises a downstream end inflatable transverse tube 30, connected against the downstream ends of the lower inflatable longitudinal tubes 8 of the two lateral lower beams 6, by two areas spaced apart on this transverse tube 30, extending laterally downwards, beyond said areas in which the tubes 8 are connected to the beams 6 of the slide 1, by two end extensions 31 that are inflatable and curved, so as to provide adequate contact between the lower end of the slide 1 and the liferaft 3, and optionally by at least partial engagement of these two inflated end extensions 31 above and behind a part of the upper flotation tube 33 of the liferaft 3. This transverse tube 30 and its end extensions 31, as well as their positions relative to the lateral lower beams 6 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 2 c.

In order to ensure the connection of the different stiffening modules 9 and 10 to the inflatable longitudinal tubes 8 of the three beams 5 and 6, the connection means are advantageously detachable mechanical fixing devices, of a well known type, each comprising an externally threaded tubular end piece allowing a screw connection to two watertight connectors each fixed on respectively one of two inflatable tubes to be connected to each other. The central passage of the tubular end piece is sealed off, when this device is to be used only for providing a discontinuous removable mechanical fastening between an inflatable tube 8 of a longitudinal beam 5 or 6 and an inflatable tube of a stiffening module 9 or 10, and, for fixing the stiffening modules 9 and 10 to the inflatable tubes 8 of the beams 5 and 6, it is not essential to provide such a detachable mechanical fixing device at each contact area or tangential point between two inflatable tubes to be connected together. These fixing devices having an externally threaded tubular end piece are advantageously used as, by opening the central passage of the tubular end piece, the detachable mechanical fixing device can simultaneously constitute a pneumatic interconnecting device between the two tubes thus mechanically connected to each other, so that the inflation of one of the two tubes can be carried out from the other. In this way, the different tubes constituting the independent inflatable structures of the different stiffening modules 9 and 10 are not only mechanically fixed to the tubes 8 of the beams 5 and 6, but also inflated using these tubes 8, which are themselves inflated from cylinders of a compressed gaseous mixture constituted by a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, said cylinders being for example arranged below a base plate of the cradle 4 mounted on the ship 2 for storing the rescue equipment comprising the slide 1 and the liferaft 3 deflated and folded, the deflated and folded slide being wrapped around a container (not shown) in which the liferaft 3 is housed folded and deflated.

With respect to the rescue equipment according to the invention, associating at least one inflatable liferaft with an inflatable evacuation slide, it is essentially distinguished only by the structure of the slide 1 itself from those already described in WO 95/14605 and shown deployed and inflated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and during deployment and inflation in FIG. 3 of this document, on the one hand, and on the other hand, in the Applicant's document FR 2 912 111, and shown in storage configuration in FIG. 6, during deployment and inflation in FIG. 7 and finally in use configuration in FIG. 8 of this document.

However, although the deformable releasable slide 1-liferaft 3 interface coupling devices can be those used in the comparable rescue equipment of the state of the art, the present invention proposes to adopt different coupling devices to those that are known, consisting of using, for the slide-liferaft interface deformable releasable coupling function, releasable coupling devices of the so-called “three rings” type, as diagrammatically shown by reference 32 in FIGS. 2 and 2 c, as well as in FIGS. 8-10 corresponding to detail VIII in FIG. 1.

The devices 32 are two lateral assemblies, each of which is mounted on the face of the downstream end inflatable transverse tube 30 facing the liferaft 3, and more precisely facing the upper part of the upper flotation tube 33 (partial cross-section in FIGS. 8 and 9) of the liferaft 3, and each of these two devices 32 is mounted on respectively one of two areas of the tube 30 that are situated close to the two lateral edges of the exit end of the slide 1, substantially where the transverse tube 30 is connected to the downstream ends of the lateral lower beams 6.

As shown in greater detail in FIG. 9, in a cut section of the upper flotation tube 33 of the liferaft 3, the coupling device 32 is double and comprises two three-ring mechanisms 34, each connected by a strap 35 to a strap holder plate 36, which is a stiff plate fixed on a corresponding lateral part of the transverse tube 30 and has openings for the strap to pass through. The presence of this plate 36 is not essential, but preferred for the case of a coupling between the slide 1 and a high-capacity liferaft 3. For a releasable, deformable connection with a small-capacity liferaft, the straps 35 of the two mechanisms 34 can be fixed directly on the tube 30. Each mechanism 34 comprises a “three-ring lift” assembly 37, a large ring or shackle 38 of which is connected by a strap (not shown) to the liferaft 3, the strap for example passing around the upper tube 33 of the liferaft 3 for attachment at its other end to the large ring or shackle 38 of the other three-ring mechanism 34 of the same device 32. Each shackle 38 coupled to the liferaft 3 is intended to receive a medium-sized ring 39 at the end of a loop of the strap 35, and said medium ring 39 folded back towards the strap 35 is itself passed through by a small ring 40 retained by another loop connected to the strap 35 and itself bearing a small loop passing through a small plate also connected to the strap 35 so that the part of this small loop projecting above the small plate is passed through by a retaining member, such as a pyrotechnic release system 41 called a “pyrotechnic knife” which makes it possible to use a remote control to release the small loop, the release of which results in the release of the small ring 40, which can disengage from the medium ring 39 which, in turn, can disengage from the shackle 38, thus ensuring the release, at the device 32, of the liferaft 3 relative to the slide 1.

Of course, the other three-ring mechanism is identical and also remotely-controlled, for its release, by another pyrotechnic release system 41. In a variant, the remote release can be provided by a pneumatic actuator, and, according to another variant, the release can be carried out manually by an operator located in the liferaft 3.

With regard to coupling the slide 1 by its upper end to the storage cradle 4 mounted on the ship 2, this can be carried out as in the rescue equipment of the state of the art.

However, the rescue equipment of the invention preferably comprises a storage and launching cradle 4 for the assembly constituted by a container, containing at least one liferaft such as 3 and its inflation means, and the slide 1 wrapped around the container. Said cradle 4 can include a thrust plate with a concave front face, for pushing at least a part of the slide-container assembly onto an overhanging sliding plate 42, which slides on the base plate of the cradle 4 covering the inflation cylinders for the slide 1, this overhanging sliding plate 42 projecting relative to the deck of the ship 2, for launching the liferaft/slide-container assembly with clearance relative to the edge of the deck of the ship 2, after a toggle plate has brought said assembly onto the sliding plate 42, causing the upper end part of the slide 1 to start unrolling. The latter can thus be deployed then inflated without risk of obstruction or catching on items of equipment or surface discontinuities on the hull of the ship 2, directly below the storage and launching cradle 4.

In order to increase the speed of evacuation via the slide 1, it is advantageous to subdivide the chute 7 into two adjacent tracks 7 a and 7 b (see FIG. 5) by a flexible separating partition 7 c supporting the middle of the chute 7 and suspended from the upper part 5, over the whole length of the slide 1. This variant is suitable for ships carrying a large number of passengers. 

1-16. (canceled)
 17. An inflatable evacuation slide for evacuating people from a ship to at least one inflatable rescue liferaft, the slide comprising: at least three multiple longitudinal beams, including two lateral lower beams and a central upper beam, spaced apart transversally over their length and substantially parallel to each other in the inflated state, each beam comprising at least two individually inflatable longitudinal tubes, said tubes connected side by side and adjacent over their length; a flexible chute intended to support people during their evacuation via the slide, said chute linking said two lateral lower beams and extending continuously between said lower beams and over the entire length of the slide from a slide entry end, equipped with means for coupling to the ship, to a slide exit end, equipped with deformable and releasable slide liferaft interface coupling devices; a plurality of lower braces comprising inflatable lower tubes connected to said two lateral lower beams and extending under said chute; and a plurality of lateral braces comprising inflatable lateral tubes connected to said central upper beam and to said lateral lower beams so as to stiffen the structure of the slide in the inflated state, said lateral braces giving said slide a cross-section, substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal beams, having a generally triangular shape, wherein said inflatable tubes of said lower and lateral braces are arranged to form a plurality of inflatable closed stiffening frames, said frames polygonal in the inflated state, surrounding said three longitudinal beams to which said tubes of said stiffening frames are connected.
 18. The slide according to claim 17, wherein said plurality of lower and lateral braces are arranged as a plurality of inflatable stiffening modules, mechanically and pneumatically independent of each other, each stiffening module being passed through by said chute and said longitudinal beams, and said stiffening modules being arranged side by side by respective module bases, from one end to the other of the slide, said stiffening modules being connected to said three longitudinal beams.
 19. The slide according to claim 18, wherein each stiffening module is a compartmentalized assembly comprising a plurality of inflatable structures connected together, each inflatable structure delimiting a sealed compartment that is individually inflatable relative to the other compartments of said assembly.
 20. The slide according to claim 19, wherein each stiffening module comprises at least one inflatable structure forming, in the inflated state, a hexagonal closed stiffening frame, the structure comprising three long tubes, the tubes comprising two lateral braces and a lower brace, alternating with three short tubes, said short tubes comprising two lower lateral connections of lateral ends of said lower brace to lower ends of said lateral braces, and a short upper brace, connecting upper ends of said two lateral braces.
 21. The slide according to claim 20, wherein each stiffening module has, in the inflated state, a general external shape of a hollow truncated pyramid with a square or rectangular base having inclined edges formed by the lateral brace tubes delimiting two opposite substantially triangular lateral faces, one of which is an upstream face, facing said slide entry end, and the other of which is a downstream face, facing said slide exit end, said upstream and downstream faces being passed through by said three longitudinal beams and said chute, and said base of each said stiffening module is formed by an upstream lower brace tube and a downstream lower brace tube which, in the inflated state of said stiffening module, are braced by a substantially X-shaped brace extending under said two lateral lower beams and chute.
 22. The slide according to claim 21, wherein each said stiffening module comprises, in the inflated state, an upstream outer hexagonal frame and a downstream outer hexagonal frame, each module constituting an independent inflatable structure overlapped along said two long lateral brace tubes and said three short tubes of said upstream or downstream outer hexagonal frame and towards the inside of said stiffening module, by two long tubes and three short tubes homologous respectively of an upstream inner polygonal frame and a downstream inner polygonal frame, each constituting another independent inflatable structure, and each also comprising a lower tube in the shape of a flared U, connected by ends of arms of said U to said two lower lateral short tubes of said corresponding upstream or downstream inner polygonal frame, while each said lower U-shaped tube is connected over the length of a base of the U to a base of the U of the homologous lower tube of the other inner polygonal frame, in order to form said substantially X-shaped brace of said base of said stiffening module.
 23. The slide according to claim 22, comprising, at each of said two slide ends, respectively one of two end stiffening modules which are stiffer in the inflated state than intermediate stiffening modules mounted between said two end stiffening modules.
 24. The slide according to claim 23, wherein each said end stiffening module comprises a larger number of inflatable structures than each said intermediate stiffening module.
 25. The slide according to claim 24 wherein at least one of said end stiffening modules comprises at least two additional independent inflatable structures, each having an overall shape of an inverted V and comprising two long lateral brace tubes and a short upper brace tube connected over their length respectively on the outside of said two long lateral brace tubes, said short upper brace tube of respectively one of said upstream and downstream outer frames, so that said at least one end stiffening module comprises at least six independent inflatable structures.
 26. The slide according to claim 18, wherein homologous inflatable structures of two adjacent stiffening modules of the slide are mainly connected to different inflatable longitudinal tubes of said longitudinal beams.
 27. The slide according to claim 17, wherein said slide exit end comprises a downstream end inflatable transverse tube connected at two areas spaced apart against the downstream ends of inflatable longitudinal tubes of said two lateral lower beams, and extending laterally downwards beyond said two spaced apart areas by two curved inflatable end extensions, making it possible to extend an area of contact between the slide and the liferaft.
 28. The slide according to claim 17, further including connection means for connecting said inflatable tubes of said longitudinal beams and said inflatable lateral and lower brace tubes, said means include detachable mechanical fixing devices.
 29. The slide according to claim 28, wherein some of said detachable mechanical fixing devices of said inflatable tubes of said beams to said inflatable lateral or lower brace tubes simultaneously constitute inflation means of said brace tubes.
 30. A rescue equipment system for passengers and/or crew members of a ship comprising at least one inflatable liferaft, said liferaft stored folded in the deflated state and with an associated inflation means in a container, around which is wrapped, folded in the deflated state, an inflatable evacuation slide, said slide including a slide entry end which is attached to the ship by coupling means and a slide exit end which is attached to said liferaft in said container by deformable releasable slide/liferaft interface coupling devices, wherein said slide comprises: at least three multiple longitudinal beams including two lateral lower beams and a central upper beam, spaced apart transversally over their length and substantially parallel to each other in the inflated state, each beam comprising at least two individually inflatable longitudinal tubes, connected side by side and adjacent over their length; a flexible chute intended to support people during their evacuation via the slide, said chute linking said two lateral lower beams and extending continuously between said lower beams and over the entire length of the slide, from said slide entry end to said slide exit end; a plurality of lower braces comprising inflatable lower tubes connected to said two lateral lower beams and extending under said chute; and a plurality of lateral braces comprising inflatable lateral tubes connected to said central upper beam and to said lateral lower beams so as to stiffen the structure of the slide in the inflated state said lateral braces giving said slide a cross-section substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal beams that has a generally triangular shape, wherein said inflatable tubes of said lower and lateral braces are arranged to form a plurality of inflatable closed stiffening frames, said frames polygonal in the inflated state, surrounding said three longitudinal beams to which said tubes of said stiffening frames are connected.
 31. The equipment system according to claim 30, wherein said deformable releasable slide-liferaft interface coupling devices are two lateral assemblies, each mounted close to respectively one of the lateral edges of said slide exit end, and each comprising two releasable coupling devices remotely released by pneumatic or pyrotechnic or manual or local means, coupled to said slide by straps and to said liferaft by other straps attached to at least one of the coupling devices.
 32. The equipment according to claim 30, wherein an assembly constituted by said container containing said at least one liferaft and said slide wrapped around said container is housed in a storage and launching cradle for said assembly, said cradle being fixed on the deck of the ship, said cradle comprising a thrust plate having a concave front face capable of pushing said assembly onto an overhanging sliding plate, said sliding plate capable of projecting said container relative to the deck of the ship, and a toggle plate, to ensure the launching and deployment of said container-slide assembly with clearance relative to the edge of the deck of the ship. 